Concerned Rocky View County residents have launched a grassroots movement, Rocky View Forward, seeking to hold the county more accountable to the concerns of its constituents.
With the launch of its website rockyviewforward.com, the hope is to make this an information hub and a platform for all matters that county residents feel are important.
“We are people who work for the people … we want to fill the void and be the voice of the people,” explained member Samanntha Wright, former Div. 8 candidate and current Bearspaw resident.
The movement has been registered as a not-for-profit society and is dedicated to being “completely open and transparent,” according to Wright.
The society is completely volunteer citizen-run, governed by a board with three executives and four directors and has nothing to do with county council or administration.
Through a collaborative effort, the group is looking to engage county residents and would seek to work with community groups through research, networking and by providing support.
An example of support would include assisting concerned residents with presentations or delegations to council, and simplifying community participation on county matters.
“That is what we are trying to do – make it easier for the residents to have a voice,” said county resident Janet Ballantyne who lives south of Highway 1A, east of Highway 22.
“By getting people into the information loop earlier in the process, there’s an ability to make meaningful change.”
Some of the issues raised by the group include development issues – highlighted by such area structure plans as the Glenbow Ranch (up to 14,300 people on the east borders of Cochrane); the consolidation of three ASPs in the Springbank area; and the Genesis-Omni developer-funded ASP northwest of Conrich.
Other topical concerns listed on the group’s website include the county’s premier draft aggregate resource plan that would act as the overarching guideline for anticipated expansion of aggregate extraction across the county; and expansion of the Langdon waste water treatment plant (estimated to cost between $25 million-$100 million).
Initiators of the movement said that “Rocky View County council’s track record has been mixed, at best, over the past 10-15 years” referring to past issues such as county debt, aggressive development and the build of the new county administration building in Balzac tagged at $42 million (and argued by some to be completely unnecessary).
The group issued a press release Tuesday morning, directing interested parties to get in touch with them either through their website or by contacting Wright at 403-998-8048.
